Two of the biggest robo-advisors are Betterment and Wealthfront.  At first glance they may appear to be virtually identical. Both create diversified portfolios with similar low cost ETFs. Both rebalance your portfolio, reinvest your dividends, and offer tax loss harvesting. Both have slick, easy-to-use websites. But there are some significant differences between Wealthfront and Betterment upon closer inspection. A podcast listener named Dan touched on this in a recent email:

Are you going to do a podcast on what made you choose Wealthfront for your taxable account (other than to keep multiple sponsors happy!)? I assume it’s for the Wealthfront 500 and tax-loss harvesting benefits it offers, but Betterment counters that this is only done on a portion of the account, and not worth the added cost. Is this the future of indexing or a gimmick? Still very interested in this topic (robo-advisors) which you brought to my attention. Many thanks, Dan

(Betterment was at one time a sponsor of the Dough Roller Money Podcast. As of today, neither Betterment nor Wealthfront are sponsors, but both offer affiliate programs that I participate in.) So, let’s address Dan’s question about Betterment versus Wealthfront, starting with the basics.

Overview

Features	Betterment	Wealthfront
Best For	New investors with low starting balances	Higher net-worth investors
Promotions	Up To 1 Year Free	First $5,000 Managed Free
Minimum Deposit	$0	$500
Pricing and Fees	0.25%-0.40%	0.25%
Tax Loss Harvesting	Yes	Yes
	Try Betterment	Try Wealthfront

Listen to the Podcast of this Article

1. Account Types

Wealthfront offers the following account types:

• Taxable accounts (personal, joint, trust & corporate)
• Traditional IRA accounts
• Roth IRA accounts
• SEP-IRA accounts (for small businesses)
• IRA trbansfers
• 401(k) rollovers
• 529 college savings plan accounts

Betterment options are more limited:

• Taxable accounts (personal, joint, revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts)
• Traditional IRA accounts (including 401(k) rollovers)
• Roth IRA accounts
• SEP IRA accounts
• 401(k)

Related: Wealthfront Review

2. Cost

Which one is cheaper depends on your account balance.  In addition to the costs of the ETFs, each service charges a management fee. Wealthfront: Charges a flat rate of .25% of assets under management, though the first $5,000 is free (For DR readers!). Betterment: Betterment’s fee structure falls into two categories: Digital and Premium. The fees are as follows:

• Digital – 0.25% (no minimum required)
• Plus – 0.40%; minimum 100,000 and access to their CFP professionals.  Also includes in-depth advice on non Betterment investments.
• Up to ONE YEAR managed free – Betterment is currently offering a limited time promo where if you deposit $15,000 – $99,999 you get one month free.  If you deposit $100,000 – $249,999 you get six months free and if you deposit $250,000 or more, you get a full year free.

Related: How Half a Percent Can Ruin Your Retirement With the limited time promo, Betterment turns out to be the current cheaper option (for year one).  The more you deposit, the more you’ll save in fees even if you take advantage of the Plus platform.  Wealthfront turns out to be the cheaper option in the long run once the bonus opportunity fades beyond year 1.

3. Asset Allocation

Both use solid asset allocation plans. They each allocate your money into different exchange traded funds (ETFs). Personally, I think both platforms have reasonable asset allocation plans. But there are also some differences:

1. Betterment favors value funds – companies that are undervalued according to certain measures, like P/E ratio.
2. Wealthfront has real estate investment trusts (REITs), Betterment does not.
3. Wealthfront has commodities, Betterment does not.
4. Wealthfront tilts toward dividend paying stocks – they have a high dividend yield ETF, while Betterment doesn’t.
5. Wealthfront has no US government bonds – yields are low so they don’t see them as a good investment; Betterment does have US bonds.

On balance, I prefer Wealthfront, but it’s a close call. You may see if differently based on your own investment preferences. Learn More About Asset Allocation

4. Website and Features

Both are easy to use and to understand. It’s also easy to change asset allocations. But I think Betterment is the better of the two. However, when it comes to features, Wealthfront stands out with it’s advice engine–Path. Path is designed to give you advice for any financial situation with just a few clicks and without having to make any calls. This feature can even project your future net worth allowing you to run a few scenarios on how to best save and invest your money. This is a valuable financial planning tool that gives Wealthfront the win for unique features designed to keep you on the right track–or more appropriately–path. It’s free for anyone to use — you don’t even need to open an investment account first. Read More: Betterment Promotions

5. Tax Loss Harvesting

Both offer it, but you have to have a certain account minimum for each.  With both Betterment and Wealthfront there are no minimums for tax loss harvesting. Tax loss harvesting doesn’t eliminate your tax liability, it defers it. That has value, because the more money you can keep in your account, the more you can earn on that balance. For that reason, there’s no doubt that tax loss harvesting has value, and increases your return. Wealthfront does offer a unique tax loss harvesting feature called Stock-Level Tax-Loss Harvesting.  For those with at least $100,000 in a taxable account, Wealthfront will buy shares in an index like the the S&P 500, rather than invest in an index ETF. Wealthfront will even include on your statement the amount saved through tax-loss harvesting. By doing so, they can generate additional tax losses on a company by company basis. Read More: Best Robo Advisors – Find out which one matches your investment needs.

6. Account Minimums

Wealthfront has a minimum of $500 (down from $5,000) to open an account. Betterment currently has no account minimum required, and you are not charged a fee for an account that has a $0 balance.

Open a Betterment account  Open a Wealthfront account

 Betterment and Wealthfront are the two biggest robo advisors, but each one has their own unique features. Which one is right for you?

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